Letters to the Editor for July 8, 2021

Reader responds to ‘Saving Democracy in America’ column

Regarding Professor Mel Gurtov’s guest column (“Saving Democracy in America” June 10, 2021 Camas-Washougal Post-Record), it has certainly prompted me to express my opinion about his opinion.

His statement about history being replete with warnings of impending disaster, illustrated by comparing Pearl Harbor and 9/11 to the bogus climate change threat or Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol building speaks of his warped sense of proportionality. Editor’s note: According to NASA, 97 percent of scientists agree climate change is real and is caused by humans. In 2009, 18 scientific associations wrote a statement on climate change, saying, “climate change is occurring, and rigorous scientific research demonstrates that the greenhouse gases emitted by human activities are the primary driver.”

The fact that the 2020 election results (are) being questions by conservatives and a call to recount ballots in key states being a threat to our democracy is completely nonsensical.

Professor Gurtov questions where is the outcry of the 81 million people who voted for Biden. I must remind the professor that copy machines don’t have a voice with which to speak out. The thousands of pristine ballots, all for Biden, that came from copy machines found in Fulton County recount in Georgia can’t really talk. I strongly suspect more of the same may be found in the states of Wisconsin, Illinois and Pennsylvania. Editor’s note: On June 24, 2021, a Georgia judge dismissed a lawsuit alleging fraudulent mail-in ballots in Fulton County. The chairman of the Fulton County Board of Commissioners has said the lawsuit was “the result of meritless claims” and noted Fulton County votes have been counted three times, including a hand recount, with no evidence of widespread fraud discovered.

Anyone who reviews the voting laws being put forth by various states around the country will find that those laws are not for suppression of votes but meant to uphold the Constitution upon which this country was founded and became the greatest democracy ever created.

May God bless America.

Ron Child,

Camas

Why are we not using supertanker planes to fight wildfires?

Here we are, at the beginning of what could prove to be worst wildfire season ever and the supertanker airplane, one of the world’s best firefighting tools, sits unused and not ready to go because of decisions made by the United States Forest Service (USFS) and states not to use it.

Unfortunately, in 2002, two Lockheed C-130 Hercules airplanes crashed while fighting fires, one in California and one in Colorado. In 2004, the USFS made the decision not to use the large, tanker firefighting airplanes, instead relying on helicopters and smaller planes.

The supertanker could have really helped on these fires: the 2020 Oregon fires burned 1.2 million acres, killed 11 people and burned 3,000 buildings. In Canby, Oregon, in the middle of the day, the streetlights and outside lights of businesses were on because of the darkness from the smoke. On July 12, 2017, lightning started the Chetco Bar fire , near Brookings, Oregon, and it burned 191,125 acres. In 2017, the Eagle Creek fire near Cascade Locks, Oregon, burned 50,000 acres and most likely could have been put out quickly by the supertanker if it would have been used.

There is a large fire burning on Mt. Shasta in California. Are we going to have to experience a disaster like the building collapse in Surfside, Florida, before we realize that we need to prepare for these things ahead of time?

When the fire is burning, it is too late to start preparing for it.

Bob Mattila,

Brush Prairie